It was starting to get dark when Tate landed somewhere deep in the woods. He set me slowly on my feet, and I leaned on the closest tree. My ankle wasn't able to handle much weight.

"Are we staying here tonight?" I asked.

Tate shook his head, "Not out in the open. There's a little cave over here. It should be good enough for tonight."

That was the first thing he'd said since my not so funny joke about the last escape plan. He hadn't looked at me either. I knew because I'd been staring at his face out of the corner of my eye for almost the entire trip.

I'd been sure I was going to die, and he came for me. He saved me; now he's mad at me.

I didn't know why, maybe because I told Ash to make him sleep, maybe because he had to fight my battles for me, again. 

We'd only known each other for a couple of days and he'd had to protect me too much in that time. Always putting himself between me and whatever trouble there was. I couldn't blame him for being annoyed. As I stood useless leaning on a tree, he walked around, making sure we were safe.

Coming back, he said, "I think we're good. I don't see evidence of anyone else being here."

I just nodded, and he went on.

"The entrance to the cave is small, it's hidden behind those low branches." He pointed, but I didn't see it. "It opens up inside, though. There will be plenty of room."

He looked nervous, that was unlike him. I guess he was uncomfortable now that he didn't like me as much as he thought he did. He went in the direction he'd pointed, and I followed him.

I was limping badly, and my progress was slow. He stopped about ten feet ahead of me and turned around to see me struggling.

"Why didn't you say something? I should have been helping you!"

He rushed back to my side, but I said, "Stop, I've got it. You've helped me enough."

Tate took a step back, "You don't want my help?"

"I don't want you to have to help. I'm not weak."

"I never said you were. I don't have to help. I want to."

We were only a few steps from the cave anyway, so he held the branches up for me to walk under. Stooping made it harder to limp and I almost had to crawl to get into the cave.

I could hear him following behind me, and I tried to keep moving at a decent pace. Leaning over so far was making my back and chest ache. Between that and my ankle, I'd never been so beaten up.

When we got through the first few feet, the cave opened enough that we could stand up straight. Before I could start to struggle, Tate was next to me, helping me stand. He helped me over to the side so I could use the wall for balance. It was pretty dark, but it was bigger than I was expecting.

"I forgot we'd need light. I'll be right back, don't move."

I nodded and he left. Starting a fire in here didn't seem like a great idea. If there was enough ventilation to let us breathe, it seemed like the smoke would make it easy for someone to find us. He was already gone, I'd mention it when he got back.

Moving around a little, I tried to find a more comfortable position, but there wasn't one. I hurt all over, and there was nothing here but stone. The only thing that didn't get kicked was my ass, so sitting up straight felt the best, even leaning back against the side of the cave wasn't good.

Relaxing was out of the question, so instead, I spent my time reliving everything that happened the last few days and everything I'd done wrong. I started with letting Jo go outside by herself in the middle of the night and thought all the way through to not being fast enough with that kick. If I'd been just a little quicker and he hadn't caught my leg, that fight could have ended differently.

When I ran out of things to be mad at myself about, I realized Tate had been gone a really long time. He said he'd be right back. I wasn't sure how long it'd been, but it was definitely longer than right back.

Oh shit! What if something happened to him? What if they found him and took him?

I turned to my side to push myself up and limped to the cave's exit as fast as I could. Crawling through the last few feet, I realized I wasn't hurting as badly, but my heart was pounding. Worry for Tate had my adrenaline pumping enough to be helpful.

Stepping out of the cave, I kept my weight on my good leg while I listened for him and tried to figure out which way to go. I didn't hear anyone, just the breeze in the leaves. I walked in the direction I thought we'd come from. If they had him, they'd take him back there. I'd go that way until I found him, or they found me.

If we were caught, I hoped Jo and Ash were safe and they'd get out of here. I couldn't believe how much our lives had changed over the last few days. Before this, my biggest worry was the idiots at school that didn't like me. If I made it home, I don't think I'd even notice them anymore.

I heard something in the trees and stopped moving. It could've been the wind, but something sounded different. It was so dark; I could only see a few feet in front of me. Holding my breath, I listened without moving a muscle.

My heart was beating so fast, even this slow walk had me sweating. I didn't hear it again, it must have been nothing. Just my nerves getting the better of me. I started again quietly but only made it a few steps.

"Where are you going?"

I turned, and behind me was Tate. I was so relieved it took my breath, and then I was irate. "Where were you? You said you'd be right back and you were gone forever!"

He tilted his head, "Not forever, I'm here now."

"Hilarious," I wasn't even a little amused. I was so worried, but now that I knew he was alright I felt like I needed to sit down.

"You shouldn't be up walking around like this."

He took my arm and put it over his shoulder to help me walk and we went back toward our cave. I was trying to ignore the feeling of his arm around my waist and his strong shoulder under my hand, but it wasn't easy.

He stopped in front of the low branches, but I wasn't ready for him to let go. "I thought maybe we shouldn't start a fire."

He nodded, "You're right. I got something much better than a fire." He lifted the branches, and the strangest dim glow was coming from inside. With the branches down, I couldn't see it at all.

"What is that?"

"Go on in, you'll see."

I crawled back through and was surprised to find three glowing rocks in the middle of the cave. They were about the size of my fist and the light they emitted was a pale blue. They weren't bright, but they gave off enough light for us to see each other.

"What are these?" I asked as I held my hand close to them without touching. I wanted to see if they gave off any heat; they didn't.

Tate seemed to think it was funny I checked; he chuckled before answering. "We call them Seelie stones; they soak up the light all day and then glow most of the night."

"Wow, that's handy."

"Yes, it is. They can be hard to find though, that's what took me so long. I had to fly to the nearest creek. The woods here are too thick to let in enough sunlight, but sometimes you can find them in the water where there's an opening in the trees."

"That's so cool." I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I felt like a kid with my first glow stick, totally amazed. "Why are they called Seelie stones? Isn't that the name of your people?"

"Yes. We're Seelie, the fae of the light. These soak up the light, so we call them Seelie stones."

"The fae of the light. Does that make the ones that the Queen wants to join with the fae of the dark?"

He nodded, "They're our opposites. You can't tell now because of the changes Queen Crystal has made, but we were peaceful. A warrior's only job was to protect our people, not to go looking for fights. The Unseelie thrive on contempt and their hatred for anyone that isn't them."

"That's terrible. Why would she want to be like that?"

"I don't know," he looked sad and I decided not to talk about her anymore for now.

Tate moved to my side and bumped my arm. Looking over, I saw he had a basket with food and a pitcher.

"Where did you get that?" I was hungry, but I wasn't expecting to get to eat anything any time soon.

"Since I was as far as the creek, I thought I should check out the surrounding homes to see what the nice fae left out for us."

"You mean you stole that?"

"Not stole, so much as borrowed. I'm sure if I'd have asked, they would've given it to us."

I looked at him in disbelief, and he shrugged, "We needed to eat, and I drank from the creek, but you didn't, so here."

He held the pitcher out, and I took it. The water was clean and cool and I'd never tasted anything so wonderful in my life. I wanted to drink all of it, but I didn't. I passed it to him and he set it on the ground before handing me a piece of fruit.

Starving, I took a bite, and it was good too. Looking over, I saw he was watching me as he ate.

"Thank you for getting all of this."

"It was no problem. I can get more water when that's gone, so drink all you want."

I shook my head, "I don't want you to leave again."

He looked surprised, "OK, then I won't."

Relieved, I leaned back and then sat up quickly when my shoulders touched the wall. In my distraction, I'd forgotten not to do that.

"When you're finished eating I want to check your injuries, make sure nothing is broken."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine and if something is broken we need to know."

I nodded and looked away. I knew he was right, but it was just more of me being helpless. Would I ever stop being pathetic in front of him?

When we were finished eating, Tate moved behind me and gently pulled the back of my shirt up. I felt him run his fingertips lightly over the sore area on my back. There was more on my shoulders, but the shirt was in the way.

Giving it a little tug, he said, "Take this off."

I lifted my arms, and he took it off and dropped it on the ground. That was OK. It was pretty much a rag anyway. It was a nice shirt when I put it on, but that was a while ago. Now the parts that weren't torn were covered in dirt and blood. I didn't think it was my blood, but I wasn't sure.

I was focusing on my shirt because Tate was moving his hands lightly over the top of my back and shoulders, and I was trying not to think about how nice it felt.

"This entire area and your left shoulder are in bad shape; the skin is abraded and discolored. It must be painful. How did this happen?"

"He dropped me," I said quietly.

"What do you mean, dropped you?"

As if him seeing my injuries wasn't bad enough, he wanted to know the embarrassing details. Sighing, I decide to get it over with.

"I tried to kick his knee but I was too slow. He caught my ankle and lifted me by it. My back and head hit the ground on the way up and when I hit him in the solar plexus, he dropped me. I mostly missed my head, but my back hit pretty hard on the way down."

He didn't say anything and I didn't turn to see his face. I didn't want to see his reaction, I was too embarrassed. Then I felt his fingers in my hair; he was carefully feeling the back of my head for injury, great. I wanted to feel his hands in my hair again, but this wasn't what I had in mind.

When he found the sore spot, he said, "It's not bad, just a bump."

"OK," I nodded.

"Where's a solar plexus?"

That almost made me smile with relief. I was happy to answer that kind of question. Anything was better than telling him how I got beat up.

Turning to face him, I touched the spot you aim for, right in the middle of his top two rows of perfect abs. "A lot of nerves come together here, and your diaphragm is behind it. A good hit hurts and can steal your breath."

He didn't say anything, and when I looked up, I saw he was staring at where I was touching him. I pulled my hand back and cleared my throat, "So anyway, I hit him there, and he dropped me."

He started to say something, but his eyes dropped to my chest, and his word changed to a harsh inhale.